Tinplate Times

An Introduction To EDOBAUD: French Machine Age Prewar Tinplate Toy Trains

Text And Photos By Jim Kelly

The Machine Age is characterized by the use of various metals
in construction. There is a machine age aesthetic that glorifies the machines
themselves by accentuating the very nuts, bolts, screws, beams and girders of
which they are built. Certain tinplate toy trains show evidence of their machine
age pedigree. The French firm of Edobaud produced a line of tinplate toy trains
for only a little over a decade, from about 1928 to 1939. These toy trains are
some of the most remarkable tinplate toy trains ever produced.

Edobaud toy trains and accessories were actually hand assembled
with nuts and bolts. They were made primarily out of steel, cast iron, brass,
bronze, nickel, aluminum, zinc, and tinplate. In the above detail photo of an
Edobaud passenger car, note that the painted tinplate body is bolted to the
steel girder undercarriage. The steel frame trucks are bolted together with
a single bolt holding the simulated truck spring and two separate bronze bearings
in place. The wheels are brass, the buffers are zinc or aluminum, and the steel
handrails are bolted to the step. There are a total of 14 bolts holding the
car body to the frame, with many more nuts, bolts, and screws holding the hand
rails, trusses, roof, and other hardware in place on this one car! Imagine how
long it took for a worker to assemble a complete car!

Edobaud trains are the monsters of 0 gauge, with No. 1 gauge
bodies riding on 0 gauge trucks. In the above photo the Edobaud third class
passenger car dwarfs a Lionel No. 248 even though they both run on 0 gauge track.
Note the unpainted stamped aluminum roof on the Edobaud car. Some say they are
ugly, but to me these great toy trains exude a beauty all their own, a machine
age beauty. They are in a class by themselves, and they are like no other toy
trains made before or since.

BACKGROUND

While the history of Edobaud Toy Trains is sketchy, French toy
maker Edouard Baud apparently established his company in the late 1920's. He
combined the first three letters of his first name (EDO)
with his last name (BAUD) to form the "EDOBAUD"
brand name. Soon he began manufacturing a line of toy trains that were possibly
sold exclusively by the Galeries Lafayette, the famous
department store located in Paris (see Carlson, Pierce.TOY TRAINS:
A HISTORY. Harper & Row, NY, 1986. P. 137.)

PHOTO: Jean-noël Lafargue (Wikimedia Commons)

However, contrary to the above, French toy train
collector Daniel Chausseray writes that Edobaud trains were sold more widely,
but in highly specialized stores:

"Edobaud's trains where at that
time (1928-1939) in the category of scientific toys, rather than the more common
toy train models such as as Hornby or Jep . They where sold in specialized shops
offering talking machines, pictures, photographic parts, static steam engines,
and Fournereau trains."

Edobaud manufactured a small but relatively comprehensive
line of locomotives, passenger and freight cars, track, transformers, and accessories
which were sold individually and in outfits or sets. All trains were manufactured
to run on 0 gauge track, however, as noted above, the car bodies were much larger
than 0 scale, and more closely resemble No. 1 gauge or even smaller Standard
gauge trains in scale.

While these heavy cars were constructed largely
of a variety of metals, many of the cars used wooden components. According to
Daniel Chausseray, the wooden components were actually made by French farmers
to supplement their income during the winter months. Daniel writes:

"...originally the wood pieces
where manufactured at home by poor small farmers in the mountainous Jura country
during the winter to help them make some money. The cars where assembled in
the small Edobaud manufacturing plant in the town of Oyonnax. This explains
why you often find not strictly matching pieces. Steel pieces were manufactured
at the factory as they were more suited to Edobaud's industrial production than
the wood parts."

POWER CARS

Edobaud produced at least five different powered
cars including two electric outline locomotives, a "Camionette," or
powered van or truck, an "Automotrice," or powered passenger car,
and a small switcher locomotive.

2-B-2 Electric Outline Locomotive

13-3/4" inches long, buffer to buffer

The two electric outline locomotives included a
2-B-2 (shown above,) a two-rail loco that was powered from the 110V mains using
a light bulb as resistance in series with a rheostat. There was also a very
similar looking 2-C-2, however this loco was three-rail, had a 20V motor, and
was transformer powered.

The "Camionette"

18" long, buffer to buffer

The front truck is powered. The cab is tinplate,
and the car bed is wooden.

The "Automatrice"

18" long buffer to buffer. The front truck
is powered.

The power truck used in the "Camionette"
and the "Automatrice"

These motors feature an unusual reversing scheme.
The wheel sets are insulated from each other. The motor is wired so that it
runs in one direction with power applied to the center rail hot shoe and the
wheels on one side. The motor runs in the opposite direction with power applied
to the center rail hot shoe and the wheels on the other side of the motor. Edobaud
three rail track had wooden ties, so the outside rails were insulated from each
other, unlike conventional tinplate track. Edobaud sold a stand alone reversing
switch that was basically a toggle switch that shifted half of the power connection
from one outside rail to the other in order to reverse the locomotive.

PASSENGER CARS

Edobaud produced eight different passenger cars:
a First, Second, and Third Class Car, a Dining Car, a Sleeping Car, and a Postal
And Telegraph Car. All of the these cars were 18" long, buffer to buffer,
produced in tinplate, and painted a single color. They also produced a two-toned
blue-cream tinplate "Pullman" car and a green tinplate "Fourgon
de Queue" tail van or baggage car with sliding doors. All cars feature
painted tinplate bodies, name and number decals, plain stamped aluminum roofs,
individual metal and celluloid window inserts, steel hand rails, flexible end-of-car
diaphragms, heavy steel undercarriages with trusses, and wooden floors. Apparently,
some cars had provisions for lighting, but these are not common. The Edobaud
coupling system consisted of a sprung hook and pin arrangement, and later a
hook and link arrangement.

First Class Car

Second Class Car

Third Class Car

The Dining Car

The Sleeping Car

The Postal And Telegraph Car

FREIGHT CARS

Edobaud produced nine separate freight cars: a
Lumber Car, a "Graphiline" Grease Barrel Car, a Box Car, a Flat Car,
a Shell Tank Car, a covered (tarped) "Baches Plisson" Flat Car, a
Gondola, a Wooden Barrel Car, and a "Cinzano" Wine Keg Car. Many of
these cars relied on wooden topside components mounted on the usual heavy steel
undercarriages. The cars are 14" long buffer to buffer.

The Lumber Car

Note the manufacturer's plate on the side of the
car. The wood load is original, the chains are a replacement.

The "Graphiline" Grease Barrel Car

Note especially the European red squirrel logo
on the grease barrel ends!

The Box Car

This car has been restored. The roof, doors, door
hardware, and door guides are replacements. The box car was catalogued and is
usually seen in red with a black roof. However, Daniel Chausseray says that
a green version was made.

The Flat Car

The Shell Tank Car

This tank car still retains its original rubber
hose. On the end of the car there is a functioning needle valve. It is apparently
possible to actually fill this car with liquid through the open domes on top
of the car and dispense the liquid through the valve and the rubber hose!

The ZAMAC dome castings on top of the tank car
are open so that liquid could actually be added to the car. These castings show
considerable "zinc pest."

The "Baches Plisson" Covered Flat Car

"Baches Plisson" was a manufacturer of
tarps, according to Daniel Chausseray.

The Gondola

ACCESSORIES

Edobaud train accessories included a grade crossing,
a truss bridge, an assortment of stop signals, and a semaphore. Some of these
signals were electrified and some were operated manually. Perhaps the most remarkable
aspect of some of these accessories is the use of cast iron bases in their construction!

These two matching grade level crossing gate assemblies
are electrified. The components are mounted on massive cast iron bases. The
painted fences are steel. The crossing arms are wooden. They are very, very
heavy pieces!

Some signals were electrified. All of these signals
have steel posts and signs and cast iron bases.

OTHER PRODUCTION

Other trains, accessories, and related items were
produced. The author welcomes additional information and photographs which can
be sent to Tinplate Times.

It is remarkable that so many of these fine toy
trains survived the Second World War. However, considering how well they were
made, perhaps this is not so surprising. It is a pleasure to research and collect
such an unusual line of prewar tinplate toy trains.